Notes from Field and Study 



81 



ing through the woods in New Jersey 

 with his children. They came across a fam- 

 ily of young Goldfinches in the bushes, that 

 were chirping as if they were lonely. The 

 children stopped and called back to the 

 birds, and presently the latter, one at a 

 time, fluttered down, alighting on the 

 heads and arms of the children, and rest- 

 ing there contentedly. The secret of being 

 able to catch wild birds in this way seems 

 to be in great deliberation of movement. — 

 R. P. Sharples, West Chester, Pa. 



The Most Southern Starling Record 



Several Starlings (Stumus vulgaris), 

 which I saw from the train window as I 

 was passing through Tacony, Penn., on 

 December 9, 1907, are, apparently, the first 

 that have been noticed near Philadelphia. 

 As they were not far away and were flving, 

 I do not think I could have been mistaken 

 in their identity. — Louis B. Bishop, New 

 Haven, Conn. 



A Brown Creeper's Mistake 



One of the most novel and pleasing 

 of many interesting incidents of my 

 wanderings afield enlivened a recent stroll 

 through a second-growth woodland near 

 my home, While walking along a wide 

 wood-path, I stopped to observe a mixed 

 flock of winter birds in the trees nearby. 

 There were Chickadees, Golden-crowned 

 Kinglets, a Downy Woodpecker and a 

 Brown Creeper, the latter being the first 

 I had seen this season. For this reason, 

 and also because this species is much rarer 

 than the others, I was watching it closelv 

 through my field glass, standing almost 

 motionless in the center of the path; mean- 

 while, it flew to the base of a chestnut 

 tree about fifty feet from me, and hitched 

 its way up the rough bark. It had reached 

 the lowest branches, about twenty feet 

 from the ground, when suddenly it left 

 the tree and darted straight at me, and, 

 to my amazement, alighted on the left 

 leg of my trousers, just above my shoe, in 

 front, evidently mistaking the black and 

 gray color for the bark of a tree. I was as 



quiet as possible, merely bending my neck 

 a little to get a better view. The little 

 fellow headed almost straight upward; 

 but the texture of the cloth must have felt 

 much different from the bark of a tree to 

 his grasping toes, for he worked up only 

 two or three inches and then fluttered off 

 and went around to the back, where I 

 think he lit again, as I felt a slight move- 

 ment of the cloth. After waiting a few 

 moments and feeling nothing more, I 

 turned cautiously and found that he had 

 gone. A little search revealed him climb- 

 ing a nearby tree in the same business- 

 like manner as usual, as though his recent 

 experience had already passed from his 

 memory. In mine, however, it made a 

 much more lasting impression. — Clar- 

 ence M. Arnold, Woonsocket, R. I. 



Notes on Kirtland's Warbler at Ann 

 Arbor, Mich. 



The spring of 1907 seemed to be pro- 

 lific in exceptional occurrences among the 

 Warblers, many species being noted in 

 considerable numbers which, during past 

 seasons, have been looked upon as quite 

 rare. 



Among my more noteworthy records 

 for May, are two concerning the Kirtland 

 Warbler (Dendroica kirtlandi). The first 

 record was made on the 13th of the month, 

 of a single individual in a pine hedge near 

 the cemetery. When first noted it was 

 apparently feeding in this hedge, but soon 

 flew to a small elm tree within twenty or 

 thirty feet of the observer, allowing an 

 excellent view of it through field-glasses. 

 For the most part, it was silent except for 

 an occasional call-note, accompanied bv 

 a 'teetering' of the tail similar to the char- 

 acteristic habit of the Palm Warbler. 



On the 16th of the month, three days 

 after the first record, much to my sur- 

 prise and gratification, a second Kirtland 

 Warbler was found in the vicinity of the 

 Huron river. This one was feeding on the 

 side of a steep ridge bordering the river 

 on the south and, flitting from bush to 

 bush, it evinced an utter lack of fear, per- 

 mitting me to approach to within a sur- 



